It’s that time of year when thousands of students are making their way to school walking eagerly through neighborhoods, along established safe walking routes.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out how we can all work together to better protect young pedestrians and make sure their travel to and from school is safe.

Audio Transcription

[MUSIC]

Sarah Elliott:
If we all did what we were supposed to do, the world would be a better place. But it doesn't always work that way. There are distractions and things happen and you've just gotta be aware, no matter which side you're on.

Matt Alvernaz:
What we're looking at is more than just how can we get the kid to school. It's what is the safest route?

Sarah Elliott:
Nothing's more important than keeping these kids safe.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely.

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Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It's the time of year when thousands of students are making their way to school, walking eagerly through neighborhoods along established safe walking routes. On this episode of the Supercast, find out how we work together to better protect young pedestrians and to make sure their travel to and from school is safe.

[MUSIC]

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here in front of Oquirrh Hills Middle School to talk about safe walking routes. Introduce yourselves and let's talk about being safe getting to school.

Sarah Elliott:
My name is Sarah Elliott. I'm the crossing guard coordinator for the Riverton City Police Department.

Matt Alvernaz:
I'm Matt Alvernaz, the school safety coordinator for Jordan School District.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sarah, tell me how many crossing guards do you have in Riverton City?

Sarah Elliott:
We have about 46 on our payroll right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
And many people misunderstand this, but actually the cities have the responsibility for coordinating the efforts of crossing guards, not the school districts. Tell me about how all of that works and if someone's hearing this and they're interested in applying, how they do that?

Sarah Elliott:
Right, so usually we're coordinated through the police departments of each city. So usually if you just Google it, you can find it pretty easily. But each police department will have their crossing guard jobs listed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us a little bit about the training that goes into becoming a crossing guard.

Sarah Elliott:
So UDOT has some really great training materials that we use, videos and things, and then mostly just on the job training. Shadow a couple of shifts and then get ready to get out there and keep those kids safe.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are the best tips for students who are crossing the street? Let's start with the students to make sure that they're doing that safely, whether there's a crossing guard there or not.

Sarah Elliott:
For sure, being a responsible pedestrian is super important. The kids need to learn to make eye contact with drivers. Looking both ways obviously, but really trying to make eye contact with the driver to make sure that the driver sees them before they step out into the road.

Anthony Godfrey:
Should they point at their eyes with their fingers and point at the eyes of the driver, Robert De Niro style, I'm watching you?

Sarah Elliott:
It would probably help us out a little bit maybe. Yeah, I might put that on my guard's responsibility.

Anthony Godfrey:
But I have heard that over the years, make eye contact with the driver so you know that they see you.

Sarah Elliott:
Exactly, yeah. Then of course if it's a staffed crosswalk, kids need to wait until the crossing guard will vocally tell them to cross and also signal them to cross and they just need to be sure that they're waiting and paying attention.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now let's talk about drivers. What tips do you have for drivers to be sure that they are safe as they approach and ultimately go through a crosswalk?

Sarah Elliott:
Paying attention, that really being aware of your surroundings is important for both sides of this coin. Get off your phones, pay attention to where you are, notice the lights, make sure you're going the speed limit and just don't let other things distract you because nothing's more important than keeping these kids safe.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely. Now, when you see the crossing guard walk out with the stop sign, you stay stopped until they and every child in the crosswalk has made it to the curb.

Sarah Elliott:
Right, right. Don't start going just because the kids are out of the road. The crossing guard needs to be safe too. So you need to wait until they're totally onto the curb and have put their stop sign down and then you can go ahead and proceed through the crosswalk.

Anthony Godfrey:
Any cautionary tales to share, things that you've seen happen that it's really what you kept repeating is just kind of the need to pay attention as a driver, but anything specific in the past that has happened?

Sarah Elliott:
I mean, we unfortunately have had kids get hit and a lot of close calls and it really all just boils down to being aware and paying attention. And like I said, on both sides of the coin, the pedestrians have to pay attention too. Just because you have the right of way doesn't mean you can just go. You still have to pay attention and make the right choice.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is the illusion sometimes. Well, I'm in the crosswalk and you're supposed to stop, so I'm gonna walk. You do have to think, I wonder if they see me? I wonder if they're paying attention?

Sarah Elliott:
If we all did what we were supposed to do, the world would be a better place. But it doesn't always work that way. There are distractions and things happen and you just gotta be aware no matter which side you're on.

Anthony Godfrey:
There are different types of crosswalks I know. There's the Beatles crosswalk on Abbey Road.

Sarah Elliott:
Yeah, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's the school crosswalk and then there's the normal crosswalk. So talk to us about the difference between, I can recognize the Beatles crosswalk. But the other two, let's talk about the distinction between those two.

Sarah Elliott:
So they go by lots of names, but the zebra striped or school zone crosswalk. If somebody's in that crosswalk and with a crossing guard or without, if you've got a zebra stripe crosswalk, as a driver, you need to wait until that person is completely out of the road before you go. They need to be on the curb on the other side. The ones you see at more major intersections that are just the two parallel lines, those you're gonna wait until that person is off of your side of the road and then you're safe to go ahead and proceed.

Anthony Godfrey:
So they start on your side and they've crossed the median and now they're on the other side of the road, you can drive through.

Sarah Elliott:
If it's the parallel lines.

Anthony Godfrey:
If it's the parallel lines, but the zebra stripe, you wait curb to curb.

Sarah Elliott:
You wait the whole time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, all right, that's a good distinction. Now I'm gonna notice all the zebra stripe versus the parallel line crosswalks.

Sarah Elliott:
Being aware, it's part of safety.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, all right, very good. With Matt Alvernaz, our school safety coordinator for Jordan School District. Matt, what other tips do you have for drivers and pedestrians?

Matt Alvernaz:
You know, one thing that we were talking about beforehand was the parents. Teach your kids, don't just park somewhere and say, “Hey, run across the street over to me” because this is convenient. Teach them to go to the right way, show them the right way. And if you're gonna get out and walk with them, just because you're an adult, doesn't mean you don't have to go to the crosswalk either.

Anthony Godfrey:
We've all thought, I can think of moments when I was with my kids and I'm like, do I show the example of going to the light or do we dart across the street, cuz we can probably make it? And it's about setting the example at other times as well.

Matt Alvernaz:
Right, you wanna emulate what you want them to do when you're not there. So sure, you could make it, you're an adult, you can make it, you're safe, all that stuff, it's actually not because you're teaching them bad habits. You're teaching them, this is okay when I'm with my parents, why not when I'm not with them? And they don't usually make the best judgment. And to be honest with you, a lot of adults don't either, whether they're driving or walking.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right, Sarah, you used the term responsible pedestrian. It made me feel like sometimes I have not been a responsible pedestrian.

Sarah Elliot:
Well, we preach responsible driving. I've got two teenagers that just got their driver's licenses and so we're harping on them all the time. But the responsibility for safety falls on everybody.

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Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. We'll walk you through the process of how safe walking routes are established through the entire school this week.

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Male Voice:
Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org.

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Sandy Riesgraf:
In Jordan School District, we like to support students in a...